Immigration NZ Announce AEWV Visa Exemptions Short-Term

Have you ever wondered why we’re constantly finding ourselves in this cycle of short-term fixes? Here we go again – the Government's slapping a patch on the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) scheme, hoping to smooth over yet another sector crisis. Instead of getting ahead of the curve, we’re watching them scramble to keep the meat, seafood, tourism, and care industries afloat.

What’s happening is damage control, plain and simple. On 8 September, Immigration New Zealand rolled out exemptions from the minimum skill requirements for a few key sectors – meat and seafood, hospitality, and the care workforce. They introduced these requirements in April but now, it seems, some industries just can’t handle them. So, we get a temporary fix. Meanwhile, the Government's supposedly reviewing the AEWV to make sure it's "fit for purpose" in the long run. Yeah, we’ve heard that before.

Take the meat and seafood sectors. They've been handed a free pass under the 2024/25 cap, which is fantastic if you're running one of those operations. But let’s not kid ourselves – this just confirms how dependent they’ve become on migrant workers to fill jobs that, frankly, should be attracting locals. There’s no sign of a genuine long-term solution, just another band-aid.

And tourism and hospitality? If you're holding an expiring visa, here’s your lifeline – a one-year extension. But that’s not fixing the underlying issue, is it? If Kiwis don’t want these jobs, why? Is it the pay? The conditions? It’s not exactly a mystery.

Then there’s the care sector, a vital industry, and yet they’re clinging on by the skin of their teeth, waiting on these short-term visa extensions. This is an essential workforce, and still, they can't find enough workers to meet demand. That’s not just a labour shortage; that’s a policy failure.

And while all this is going on, we’ve got a Government that loves to talk about long-term vision, but here we are again – quick fixes and stopgap solutions. You wonder why they didn’t think to fix this earlier. Maybe they’re too busy putting out fires to look ahead.